Conventional sports & safety eyewear currently exist which allow the user a wide angle of view. This particular type of eyewear is typified by a singular or two lenses which extends from the outside of one of the wearer's eyes and extends across to the outside of the other of the wearer's eyes, and only partially interrupted by the structures which support the eyewear at the bridge of the nose. This is a partial interruption since the support structures are typically supported only by the center of the singular lens, which is in turn supported by the upper portion of the lens support structure. The support structure extends inside the singular lens to garner support from the user's nose, and the singular lens is kept outward and generally downward opening downward and lower on the user's face. Thus the wide view afforded by the singular lens comes at the expense of having a wide open space between the peripheral edge of the lens or lens support structure and the user's face. The same issues occur in two lens eyewear in the wide open space between the lens & user's face.
Goggles, which are different from conventional non-goggle eyewear, are considered to be extremely restrictive, as they typically hug and seal with the face of the user to isolate the eyes as much as possible from wind and debris, but they are typically used only in extreme conditions and not, for example to walk upon the beach or to play volleyball, two instances where a more relaxed, lightweight and non-constricting eyewear is the general preference. Also, sunglass use is limited for some people who require an extreme structure around the head for certain sports, or due to the fact that they have had laser surgery and require greater protection for their eyes. They could not effectively wear their normally extremely restrictive sports eyewear at all times without suffering a great deal of discomfort.
Extremely restrictive head wear can work well, but generally for only specific situations, such as riding a motorcycle or skiing. However, they fall short of being practical when used generally as a sunglass or spectacle, driving a car, or having lunch at an outdoor cafe. This is due to their being large, bulky, hot, and not very stylish for such activities. Attempts have been made to overcome the bulk and size of such extremely restrictive head wear by attempting to make fixed seal glasses, as are seen in Design Patent No. Des. 339,596. Although more stylish, these fixed seal sunglasses fall short of an ultimate solution for an all around eyewear product. This is because the user is left to using the hot, restrictive eyewear all the time due to the inability to attach and detach a sealing member at times when desired. The attempts to ventilate the lens support structures of these fixed seal, extremely restrictive sunglasses works adequately with high motion activities, but does not make them less hot at times when there is no air circulation going through the ventilating areas such as when driving in a car. Also, due to the rigid nature of eyewear lens support structures, and the many variances of the specific contour of the facial region surrounding the eyes of the user, certain users are left with a generally poor fit and incomplete sealing using a fixed seal with a given configuration, and which lacks customizability. Also upon breakdown of the sealing structure for a fixed seal extremely restrictive sunglasses, the user is left with the inability to easily replace their sealing structure, virtually eliminating the total benefits of the product they had purchased.
The sealing can occur around each eye, and the protected area most often includes the bridge of the nose. Even where the enclosure extends across the area adjacent both eyes, extremely restrictive eyewear can still generally restrict the view of the user. The restriction usually comes with the support structure which is used to seal against the face and closely adjacent to the eyes, and typically surrounds the entire lens fully. The term “conventional eyewear” includes eyeglasses, spectacles, sports eyewear and in general any eyewear which is not expected to provide a seal to the user's eye areas.
In terms of usage, a user is faced with having to buy both extremely restrictive eyewear and conventional sports glasses, and to use the appropriate eyewear depending upon circumstances. Where debris is severe enough, such extremely restrictive eyewear are worn at the sacrifice of an expanded viewing angle, more heavily structured and bulky. Where conventional open sports eyewear are worn, the user suffers the debris, particularly wind and dust, which may enter the eyes behind the lenses. In addition, conventional sports eyewear, by having a significant gap on the face, even where the gap between the bottom of the lens and the face surrounding the eyes is low on the face, admits significant amounts of light. Where the user gazes down, there will be a sudden change in light levels, which can both annoy the user and stress the user's eyes. The effect is most pronounced where the lens is particularly dark.
Another aspect of eyewear not served well by extremely restrictive eyewear includes the ability for comfort and ventilation. A good seal is usually achieved at the expense of ventilation and with significant pressure on the face surrounding the eyes. In some cases specialized ventilation ports are formed in the side walls of the lens support structures, but they are not always located properly or structured to provide adequate ventilation. Even where adequate ventilation is provided, the such extremely restrictive eyewear do not provide a comfortable fit.
Lack of comfortable fit is not an acceptable tradeoff for durability and long usage life. The seal used in conventional extremely restrictive eyewear is less able to withstand vigorous use, and tends to break down over a relatively short period of time. The seal break down usually occurs far short of the full use life. Therefore, the ability to interchange seals is important in extending the life of any eyewear, extremely restrictive or otherwise.
What is therefore needed is a new and improved sports eyewear structure such as may possibly be used with at least one lens member and having structures which may engage the lens member along the peripheral, separate or in conjunction with a top and/or side edges, or peripheral edges, adjacent surfaces and other surfaces and which will permit a very gentle sealing with the face to inhibit wind and debris from entering the user's eyes and which will block unwanted light from the eyes. Further, to benefit interchange ability, the structures which forms the seal which should be removable so that a wearer can use the same eyewear in an open or closed format as the user wishes.
Apart from the abovementioned sports eyewear which may have a huge opening, especially at the bottom of a user's eyes, there is also the problem generally found in conventional eyeglasses, spectacles, and many sunglasses inherently do not have a close fit with the user's face. It seems there is always a sizeable gap area, though varying in size, entirely surrounding the lens support structure of the eyeglasses. This gap area, at times, can be annoying and can even be dangerous and life threatening, and more than simply high speed sports activities, side gusts of wind are provided with an even easier entrance and exit. The annoyance can be due to the entry of wind, dust, water and light to the user's eyes. Wind and dust can be encountered anytime one is outdoors, in particular when dealing with high speed sports like skiing, motorcycling or power boating, especially where the head often assumes different angles to the direction of travel. The level of light to one's eyes can also be annoying. For example, when the sun is shining brightly and a user is playing golf, the sun can have a blinding affect making it difficult for the user to make a golf shot. Entry of water can also he annoying when engaged in some water sports, such as boating and kayaking. The gap area becomes dangerous, for example, when bodily fluids from a patient with a communicable disease in a medical situation comes into contact with the eyes of the medical practitioner. Entry of blood into the eyes from an aids patient could be life threatening.
There are many varieties of eyewear. For example, one specific type of eyewear is a lens support structure which forms a mounting for a pair of corrective vision lenses and this lens support structure is generally adapted to rest on the bridge of one's nose with the prescription corrective vision lenses being located directly in front of one's eyes. However, using of these type of eyewear structure is highly deficient in reducing particulates from entering the eye region, when adapted for use in a variety of industrial safety eyewear, eyewear for swimming, motorcycle riding, skiing and the like. A similar deficiency arises using most conventional sunglasses and eyewear which have temple members.
What is also needed are improvements in light weight eyewear members which enable the user to selectably convert a greater percentage of eyewear of known art into debris blocking eyewear or sun shields for times when needed. The conversion of the eyewear to a condition where it may block debris can also be selectably reversed by the user with the eyewear being changed back to its former state when debris blocking is not needed. It would be desirable if the eyewear member could be easily stored in a user's pocket or purse, preferably as a single integrated unit. It would also be desirable for the eyewear member unit to adapt to a wide range of different shapes and sizes of eyewear, so that a user could use one unit on several different styles and physical configurations of eyewear that the user may own. The eyewear member should be utilizable with conventional eyewear which does not inherently have the ability to seal out wind and debris, also known herein as conventional eyewear.